If the weather forecast is accurate, that storm won't be so memorable, expert says
CHESTNUT HILL - It seems like everyone in New England has a memory of a winter storm. It's a badge of honor or a storm of survival with wounds as salty as the sidewalks, no matter how much time has passed.
But does our memory of those storms change over time?
"Our memories aren't as accurate as we might think that they are," Dr. Elizabeth Kensinger, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College, told WBZ-TV
She says the "Back in the day, the weather was worse," thoughts may be part of a common theme for memories.
"Remembering a past that unfolded differently than it actually did is more normal than unusual. And I think this direction of error where we think that something in the past was harder for us and we overcame something is actually a very typical way in which our memories are distorted," Dr. Kensinger said.
Memories aren't so much a snapshot of the past, but rather a glimpse into the future.
"What's the usefulness of knowing exactly what happened in the past, it's not all that helpful unless it actually helps us understand this moment and prepare for the next moment," she told WBZ. "The weathers were so bad back then and we got through these blizzards and so, of course, we're ready for whatever is coming next."
It's also possible that the media's coverage of winter storms affects how people commit that memory into their brain.
Dr. Kensinger believes there is a really interesting possibility that the better the media coverage, especially for an upcoming storm, the less memorable that storm is going to be.
"It creates the interesting possibility that we might have remembered storms from our childhood as being worse because perhaps they weren't being forecast as accurately," she told WBZ.
Kensinger said even though we've had numerous storms that surpassed the impacts of the Blizzard of '78, like the April Fools Day Storm, The Presidents Day Blizzard, or Winter Storm Nemo, the Blizzard of '78 sticks out so vividly because it greatly exceeded the general public's expectation.
"It is those moments in life that totally throw you a curveball and you don't know what's coming. Those are really the moments that tend to stick with us the longest," she said.
So that memory of walking to school uphill, both ways, in snow up to your waist may not be exactly how it happened.
"Our memories are what are our identity. It's really what gives us our sense of who we are in this world. It influences in really extreme ways how we interact with other people, how we make sense of the present moment, how we think about our future," Dr. Kensinger said.